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Welcome to the Gayborhood, The U-bar is a Floor-to-ceiling windowed establishment with an unpretentious, unfrilled atmosphere that offers the opportunity to watch the neighborhood move around from a comfortable vantage point. Floretta makes her entrance into the establishment, wearing pale blue torn jeans, running shoes and a loose fitting purple shirt that seems to occasionally slide off of her shoulder, her hair held back into a ponytail. She smiles warmly, greeting a few of the regular, avoiding others politely (Blush of Life active w/Face the camera)
Sitting at one of the corner tables, a young man sits simultaneously switching between his phone and a small pile of cocktail napkins. Littered around him are various origami animals and flowers. He seems content and unaccompanied . dark haired and clad in a simple navy tshirt, he's pretty unassuming.
It's the origami animals that draw her attention first. They make her smile, stirring a memory of being in school an attempting during art class. "Hi!" She takes a seat, leaving a place between him and her. "Love the origami." she points to her favorite piece he did, she turns to the person behind the bar and orders something with just a gesture of her fingers, she seems like a regular.
"Oh! Uhm... Th-thanks. I uh... My hands get bored so I fig-figured i'd let em do something." He explains nervously. "But uh....Hi."
"First time at the U-Bar? Or in the Gayborhood in general?" Floretta asks, while she leaves money on the counter when her drinks gets delivered.
He shakes his head. "No. I've been to both. I help make the drag costumes over at (insert a bar with lots of drag shows) and I've been to Rainbow Road and Vertigo a lot."
The drink she ordered is but a simple beer, craft. She claims the bottle and drink from it. "Oh great, I probably saw your work then!" after the enthusiastic response she tips her drink to him. "I'm Floretta, pleased to meet you."
"Oh uhm I'm Ar-Arthur. Nice to meet you too?" He queries a bit. "S-so you aren't new here."
"No, I'm not. I hang around this kind of place as much as I can get away with." Floretta says, taking another go of her drink.
He grins knowingly. "That's g-good. Is this one your favorite?"
"I tend to prefer nightclubs and loud places or where I can get a little fancier." She looks down at her outfit as if to indicate what she's talking about. "but the U-Bar is my favorite spot to have a chill evening. Casual, simple."
"Oh. Me too. I like the big music , when it's so loud you can feel the air shaking and the chaotic lights everywhere." He grins a little wider. "I don't think i've ever dressed fancy to go out though."
Floretta grins knowing and share that exact feeling. "Yes! That's the best place to be, right between two speakers or the dance floor, if there's one." she smiles at him. "I like playing up my strength and looking all cute." she twirl the tip of her ponytail around her index, playful and slightly exagerated, before returning to a more normal stance with a soft laugh.
Completely oblivious to the concept of feminine wiles, Artie just smiles, wondering just what she meant by that. "So you wanted to have a chill night today? Was it a long day or something?"
"I've been working since the sun went up this morning and I didn't stop until like, an hour ago maybe?" She looks at the time on her phone, pulling it from her purse. Floretta's phone case is adorned with several depictions of the transgender flag. "So I felt like I deserved a little something to end the day."
"Wooow. That's a lot of work. What do you do?" He inquires, checking his own phone quickly replying to a text. He sets it down and puts the finishing touches on a small paper tiger before setting in on another critter with a fresh napkin.
"I help manage a few of the local LGBT charities. Like, I'm not a president of anything, but I do some leg work for them. I try to get word out there for various funding campaign a few of them run." Floretta explains a little rapidly. "It's not all I do, but talking about actual work is not a topic for a chill night." she speak with mirth carrying the words.
"That's fair I suppose..." The young man replies after a moment's consideration. "Well... A-are you from Philly?" He asked, taking the cue to change the subject.
"Born and raised in Philly." Floretta finish her beer and set it aside. "What about you?" her gaze drifts down to the origami-ed napkins.
He shakes his head again. "Uh no. I'm from.... California I guess. Just started living here almost a year ago." He's barely paying attention to what his fingers are doing as it makes the folds. It appears that he's making a butterfly.
"Could you show me a bit of this?" Floretta points to it. "It's amazing and I want to be able to at least try."
"Huh? Oh..uhm. Ok sure..." He passes over a napkin. "Uhm well... Lessee... I... Guess a flapping crane is the most traditional." He thinks aloud, and then makes a fold and looks at her to copy him. "So it's best to start with a square..." And then he sets in on showing her the fold step by step. "You have to be gentle here cuz it's a napkin and not real paper though."
Floretta picks a Napkin up and sets it down on the counter right in front of her, smiling and looking happy to be learning. She folds like she's shown, but it's easy to see she's not particularly great at arts and crafts. For a time, it looks like a bird shaped thing, but it unmakes itself rapidly. "Oh god, that was terrible." Floretta laugh at the situation.
"Hmm... Well almost." He remarks. "Wanna try again?" He offers up a second napkin.
"Alright!" Floretta picks the second napkin and takes a deep breath, apparently focusing on it a little more this time.
"Do ya want me to go over em again or do you think you've got it?"
"I obviously don't got this." Floretta takes a moment to realize this was probably not the best gramatical sentence ever.
"Ok. You've got this... Here follow me"
Floretta focuses on Arthur's explanations and teachings halfway into it, her tongue poke out as a show of effort. At the end of it. A little napkin crane sits atop the counter and her arms raise in victory "Yes!"
"There you go! And here's a fun part." He picks up his long necked bird and gently tugs on the tail causing the wings to flap slightly. It's not as dynamic and springy as it would be with stiffer paper but it works.
She tries it on her own napkin bird and has a delightful smile when it works for hers too
"And voila. That's a crane. I think the old japanese myth is that if you fold a thousand of them you get to make a wish." He explains. "I dunno why though. Seems kind of complicated to me but I suppose that's just how magic works sometimes."
"I'm pretty sure I could find out some kind of reasoning behind it? If I put in the googling effort for it." Floretta smiles setting down the crane again. "Thanks for showing me by the way." she reaches into her purse again and pull her phone out.
Artie shrugs. "If you want. Though that would take all the fun and mystery out of it wouldn't it?" He posited. Digging and delving like that was the penchant of the Autumn and as far as he was concerned, some mysteries deserved to stay that way. To leave a little wonder and whinsy in the world.
"Yeah but then I'd go to sleep not knowing and it would bother me!" It's a playful protest by Floretta as she set the phone down. She lays on the playful over-dramatic consequences of it "And it would cost me sleep and maybe even get me white hairs and wrinkles."
"Like a Golden Girl. So you'd be fine. People liked them." He assured
"Wow." Floretta holds up her hand defensively, as if the words themselves had just smacked her in the face. "Incredible and rude." again the playful tone is obvious, she does a little hairflip and orders another drink. Just as it arrives a moment later. "You're fun to be around, thanks."
Artie blinks, confused. "R-really? People keep saying that... I don't know how." It was true, between Guy and Finley and sort of Charlie. He'd always been under the impression that he was stupid and boring which was ok with him, he'd had plenty of excitement before the Thorns.
"You got some wits about you, I mean the exchange we just had was just poking a little bit of fun and you had the perfect responses." Floretta shrugs and keeps her smile light. "You just spent like 5 non-straight minutes trying to teach me Origami while in a bar. It's kind of a cool, chill experience, even if I act the drama out a little."
"Oh. Well... You asked." He shrugs. He'd just thought he was being polite. It hadn't been any trouble so of course he'd shown her. Although, this was the first time he could recall being called witty. Maybe he was getting better at being sociable. Hmm... He did have a few friends now and he chose to go out most nights if he could. Grinning big, the lights seemed to brighten a bit around them. Arthur couldn't help it though. He was making progress at turning into a person. "Cool..." He breathed the word almost by accident. A sudden thought crossed his mind again. "Oh. You wouldn't happen to know any photographers would you?"
"I don't know any personally no, at best I take picture with my phone." She lift it from the counter and set it back down, her eyes seems to dart to the light, casually, but without any obvious emotional response to it "I mean, we could totally take a selfie if you wanted?"
"Huh? Oh no i've just been looking for someone to help me do a small photoshoot is all. But nobody even knows someone who owns a camera. It's kinda weird actually" the wizened admits. He might have to settle for someone with a good iphone after all. "Why? Did you wanna take a selfie?" It had dawned on him that maybe she wanted a picture. She did kind of seem the type to enjoy the hobby.
"Why not? Would you mind?" Floretta waits for the answer, fiddling with her phone between her hands.
He shrugs and scoots over beside her. "Ok I guess. Say when."
Floretta picks her phone up and it takes her just a short moment to turn on the camera on for herself, makes it face the proper way. "When!" and she takes a picture of them both when Arthur readies himself.
Not terribly accustomed to the nuance of the selfie, Artie smiles. Wide and looks up at the camera, doing his best not to blink. If their bodies make contact, she'll be able to notice that he is astonishingly warm to the touch, almost uncomfortably so. She may also catch a whiff of freshly cut grass when he moves. "How'd it come out?"
"Do you have a phone, I can send it to you, if you give me your number?" She show the picture to Arthur, it's a genuine shot of the two of them. "Is it okay to post on social media? Totally fine if you don't want to, I'll keep it for myself." she does, however take a picture of the two Napkin crane.
"Yeah sure..." He says sliding back over. He picks up his phone and fiddles for a second before turning it around to display his number. "Uhm... Ok. If you want you can post it."
Her first message for Arthur is the selfie she just took. "Alright, I'll have it up at some point tomorrow, if you change your mind, just text me."
"Ok. Why would I change my mind?" He asks. He supposed some people didn't like having their pictures out there but what more did he have to worry at this point? It wasn't like He was gonna go searching online for him and if he did, the Summer had plenty of spear left for that Bastard.
"I don't know, some people might recognize the place you're at and put two plus two together. It might out you." Floretta explains and smile with a touch of melancholy to it "And sometimes it's something that slip people's mind."
It takes Artie a very long second to figure out what she was implying. "Ooooh! It's ok. I don't think anyone I know minds." Since he'd been back, there hadn't been a time that had crossed his mind about hiding being gay. He'd not had to struggle with the anxieties and fears that most had regarding the matter so he'd essentially forgotten that some people needed to bury and hide this part of themselves. Truth be told, he had other more important secrets to focus on.
"Then you're surrounded by good people." Floretta assess with a nod and a smile. "I think it'd be a good idea if I got myself back home soon tho." as her gaze crosses the clock. (I'm starting to lose steam, I'd like to end the scene ^^;)
"Ok. And um... Thanks for the chat. It was good meeting you! Hopefully I'll run into you again? Be careful getting home."
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